I worked out how to make Arc viable

"

Thundfin wrote:

Does arc work with fork? It's not a projectile but I've never heard of anyone trying it..

Because it's not a projectile, and wouldn't work..?

"

Thundfin wrote:

Does arc work with fork? It's not a projectile but I've never heard of anyone trying it..

Arc doesn't work with LMP/GMP/Fork as they all references projectiles, however, Chain will work (but is not recommended as it adds +2 to the current number of times Arc will leap, bringing it up to 5 targets instead of 3, but takes away half the damage, resulting in a net loss).

been using it for pvp since open beta start.

in pve it just sucks. the killspeed is terrible, manaconsumption is really high, the aoe is minimal as you will only have 15 hits total (try to kill a bunch of apes). lmp freezepulse does more than arc+remote+lightning pene +added lightning.

arc is fun but completely inferior to a wide variety of skills. it is good for proliferation but thats it.

"

SVD wrote:

been using it for pvp since open beta start.

in pve it just sucks. the killspeed is terrible, manaconsumption is really high, the aoe is minimal as you will only have 15 hits total (try to kill a bunch of apes). lmp freezepulse does more than arc+remote+lightning pene +added lightning.

arc is fun but completely inferior to a wide variety of skills. it is good for proliferation but thats it.

While this is true, I think it is still worth using. If I only used skills that were the "best", I would have gotten bored of PoE a long time ago.

Hmm...
I wonder if arc would be more intersting if it continued chaining after 3 with lower damage each time until you either move, or the damage hits zero.

"

nhargobange wrote:

This is so cool. Not even because of Arc, it's all about Remote Mine being deployed to good effect. Nice job!

Oo i guess you never played a summoner ?

Remote mine is provided only once to each class which can obtain it. And for shadows taking the mine means no spell totem.

My dreams. They are broken.

Well the double lightning warp totems were fun for a while, but I've since switched to double ARC totems (of course!) and now this feels like a legit build. Not great, but legit. Like some kind of mutant hybrid between Spork Totems and Discharge.

My main skill sets are:

Arc + Spell Totem + Ele Prolif + Fast Cast

Arc + Remote Mine + Lightning Pen + Iron Will

The basic strat is to lay the 2 Arc totems in front of you, buying you time to lay a bunch of mines. By the time you're ready to detonate, the totems have shock stacked the whole screen, and your mines finish everything off. Cast Conductivity or Ele Weakness somewhere in between if necessary.

I've made my way to Merciless Ledge so far (Onslaught League) and will be having fun farming there for a while. The build definitely feels like it is getting stronger with each level.

Pros:
- When you fire off enough Arcs (which this build certainly does), the skill's huge damage variance is averaged out well enough that the damage output feels pretty reliable.
- Easy shock-stacking, so I assume this could be a decent support build for a group.
- Feels very safe and defensive due to double-totems; feels more like a triple- or quadruple-totem build because of the mines.
- Obviously, you're immune to reflect damage.
- You get to enjoy a fantastic laser light-show! A lot more enjoyable than a screen full of sparks IMO.

Cons:
- A LOT of button-clicking before anything dies. Totem, totem, curse, mine, mine, mine, mine, mine, detonate is a typical sequence; plus lots of kiting/maneuvering in-between.
- Mines are terrible against certain AOE mobs (such as Piety's lightning storm and anything that leap slams). You have to detonate more frequently (like, between every mine) to compensate.

Thanks again OP for the great idea, I had no clue what I was going to do with my Witch for the Onslaught achievement but this has been a lot of fun!

Well I always found Arc as a good support skill. My best attempt at pure Arc was when I made a witch that used an Arc totem and its own Arc skill. My plan was to get a decent shock chance + lots of cast speed (and that was before spell totem nerf). Damage was too weak in merciless act
2. I had a better result by using arc + totem to support a dual wand Shadow but my best result was using a arc+totem to support a fire trap templar. My plan was to add cold damage to this totem and then take EE so my fire traps are better but it was not needed. Arc totem did both tanking and shocking well enough so I could clear docks merciless without a lot of problems.

I'll investigate this a bit more as I am not completely convinced. The new mine nodes make this interesting